Triple Layer Chocolate Cake

When I decided that I was going to make this amazingly decadent cake, my main concern was—did we have enough milk on-hand? Basically, you will need an entire gallon of milk at the ready because this triple layer delight is so rich!

Once I knew our milk status was at a safe level, I set to work on baking. I must admit to you right here and now that I had to put my big girl pants on for this recipe because I knew it was going to be a lot of work and kind of a mess. It’s totally worth the effort, though, when that chocolate beauty is on your cake stand and everyone can ‘ooohhh’ + ‘ahhhhh’! Oh, and also, it’s pure deliciousness in your mouth.

I also remembered while making the cake mix and the frosting how much I don’t really enjoy working with baking cocoa. It’s so fine and seems to get everywhere, no matter how carefully I measure it out. Ummm, and also, as I was mixing the butter + cocoa for the frosting, a glob of butter got lodged in my mixer whip and, *poof*, my entire workspace (and myself) was covered in a light dusting of unsweetened cocoa. I worked through it, though, nary a swear word muttered and the Mr. was kind enough to clean up the mess for me, so I could continue my frosting mission. Lesson learned: whip your butter first and make sure it’s completely smooth before adding the cocoa!

Now for the good stuff…

What You’ll Need:

Cake

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups sugar

¾ cup baking cocoa

2 tsp. baking powder

1 ½ tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

½ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 cup water, boiling

Frosting

1 ½ cups butter, softened

1 cup baking cocoa

5 cups powdered sugar

½ cup milk

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

Cake

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease three 8” cake pans, coat with cooking spray, and dust lightly with flour.

2. Mix flour, sugar, baking cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt—combine. I started out with a large mixing bowl, but then realized I needed more room, so I ended up transferring to my Kitchen Aid. (I love my mixer and use it all the time—you can find a similar one HERE!)

3. Add milk, vegetable oil, eggs, and vanilla to flour mixture. Mix together on medium speed until well-mixed. Reduce speed to low and add boiling water to batter a bit at a time. Once the water is combined, beat on high for 1-minute.

4. Pour cake batter into prepared cake pans. I only have two 8” cake pans, so I had to bake two of the cakes first, let cool, and then bake the third cake, letting it cool completely, as well, before I started frosting.

5. Bake cakes for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing and allowing to cool completely.

Frosting

1. Cream butter + baking cocoa. Be careful! Remember my glob story from above??

2. Add powdered sugar + milk. Do this 1 cup of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of milk at a time until it’s all combined. (You may need to add more of either the powdered sugar or milk, depending on your preference for the consistency of the frosting.) Mix on high for 1-minute each time you add more powdered sugar + milk.

3. Add vanilla extract, mixing well.

Now you’re ready to frost the cakes! I’ve found that I have the best luck frosting cakes if I stick them in the freezer for a bit before, that way the frosting doesn’t tear the cake apart as I spread it on. I start by putting one cake on my cake stand and adding a layer of frosting on top of it, repeating this step with the other two cakes. Once you have the layers built, you can start frosting the outside of the cake. The trick to getting a nice, smooth look on the outside of the cake is creating a crumb layer. You’ll spread a thin layer of frosting all over the outside of the cake, catching any loose bits of cake that come off. Once you have that done, you can add a thicker-layer of frosting that will cover up any of the frosting that caught the bits of cake. This will give your cake a more professional and finished look.

You are going to make someone in your life so happy if you decide to make this triple layer chocolate cake. It is seriously delicious and so rich! People will love you (even more than they already do) and you will impress them with your baking skills—hello, 3-layer cake!!!

You can grab yourself an adorable flour sack towel (Doe A Deer Design) like the one pictured, HERE! My cake stand is from HERE, but there’s a more budget-friendly option HERE.